Saturday, April 17, 2021

1975

17 Apr 1975, Thu The Paducah Sun (Paducah, Kentucky) Newspapers.com

 

29 comments:

  1. Here are the Page 1 headlines from the Paducah Sun-Democrat of Thursday, April 17, 1975 (Vol. 97, No. 92):

    — Following 3 1/2-month siege, Phom Penh capitulates to insurgents

    — Saigon government’s military situation is called ‘irretrievable’

    — Rate hike announced by TVA

    — Student indicted in blaze

    — Senator urges no change in 1975 leaf allotments

    — Ways to prevent Lake City flooding discussed at dam

    — H. Lester Rector, 62, services set Friday

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    1. Of all these headlines, the rate hike has the most long-term significance.

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  2. The Sun-Democrat identifies Mr. Rector as “one of Kentucky’s leading dairyman.”

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  3. His dad died just in March. The elder and younger Rector had been in the grocery and restaurant business together until 1936, when the younger Mr. Rector opened Sunshine Dairy.

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  4. By this time, Mr. Rector had married the former Lorine Timmons, and his new business partner became his father-in-law. Mr. Rector became a wheel—board of directors for both the Kentucky Dairy Products and National Independent Dairies Association … Bert Combs appointee as state milk commissioner … member of the Milk Marketing and Antimonopoly Commission … director of the Junior Chamber of Commerce … Rotarian.

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  5. He was also active in affairs at Broadway Church of Christ.

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  6. In addition to a beautiful home on Pines Road, Mr. and Mrs. Rector had a winter place down in the warmth of Saint Petersburg, Florida. It's getting into the 70s now up in Paducah, so I imagine the Rectors were getting ready to head back north. But Mr. Rector died Monday--he had been sick for a while, the Sun-Democrat said.

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  7. Page A-10 letter to the editor from Kuttawa:

    Bringing those children from their Asian homes to the U.S. is absolutely ludicrous from many standpoints. … When will charity begin at home and not some three or four thousand miles away?

    Over one-fifth of the people in this country live below the poverty line. Another fifth live in deprivation, without minimum requirements for a moderately comfortable scale of living.

    I personally feel that we shuld take care of the aged, infirm and orphaned here at home first. If there be any funds left use them for the rest of the unfortunate wolr.d It certainly would help to bring this country together.

    We have the characters of Gilligan’s Island operating our government and the characters of Green Acres operating our Department of Agriculture. In fact, that is the problem. There is so much talk and nonsensical statements coming out of Washignton that we realize we are in a state of utter confusion.

    Our own First District congressman blew much air when campaigning. Since then I have heard only complaints from him about his colleagues, and that he voted for a bill that he did not comprehend.

    At election time we should remember that the individuals who cannot get across the thinking stage, who are continually harassed by doubts and speculations and apprehensions, suffer from what is called psychasthenia. They stop at the level of possibilities, none of which are acted out.

    There are schools not operating in this country because of lack of funds. Now we find thousands to throw into a lost cause that never really was intended by our leaders to be solved.

    JFK once said, “If a free society cannot help the many who are poor,it cannot scorn the few who are rich.” Wake up people, let’s get America moving properly.

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    1. This letter also captures a mood that will prove to be significant sooner than most people in the spring of 1975 will anticipate.

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  8. Tonight on Channel 6: Porter Wagoner at 6:30, Sunshine and The Bob Crane Show at 7 and 7:30, a Bob Hope special at 8 and then Movin’ On at 9.

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  9. Channel 3: news at 6:30, Barney Miller and Karen at 7, Streets of San Francisco at 8 and Harry O at 9—all reruns.

    Channel 12: Wide World of Animals at 6:30, Waltons rerun at 7 and a movie at 8.

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  10. I've watched an episode each of The Bob Crane Show and Karen, and I enjoyed them both--saw no reason either of them couldn't be a long-running hit in the right situation. Neither was, carding 14 and 13 episodes, respectively. I guess coming on midway through The Waltons in early 1975 was not the right situation.

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  11. The Bob Crane Show, explains Wikipedia, "starred Bob Crane as Bob Wilcox, a man in his 40s who quits his job as an insurance salesman to return to medical school. The series co-starred Patricia Harty as his wife Ellie Wilcox, who becomes the family's breadwinner while Bob is in school."

    I really like the intro of this show. It's an MTM production, and its opening is half Bob Newhart Show (except Bob Wilcox is not satisfied in his choices like Bob Hartley is) and half Alice (except Bob Wilcox is a married man and Alice Hyatt is a widowed woman).

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    1. More cycles with the little flags -- I had forgotten about those.

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    2. OK, here's the thing: that introduction to The Bob Newhart Show is one of the best openings of all time because it encourages you to identify with Bob and to learn more about his life. "The Sopranos" also uses a commuting opening to a similar purpose. The point is to convince you that the protagonist isn't that different from a typical American.

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    3. Now the opening of "The Bob Crane Show" is designed to emphasize that Bob Crane's character is unusual -- he quit his job, he's in medical school (?), he lives in a loft (?), and he rides a bicycle with a little flag. He's not a character that the audience immediately identifies with. Over time, I suppose, they might have come to identify with him -- but they didn't have that time.

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    4. Now when they put together the opening for "Alice," they had a similar problem -- how to get the audience to identify with a lead character who had made some unusual life choices? So what they did was tell a little story about Linda Lavin that encouraged you to care about her. That worked much better. We have sympathy for Alice and we root for her. But who's going to root for a middle-aged guy who quit a good job to live in a loft, go back to school, and ride around on a bicycle?

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  12. In Karen, "Karen Angelo is an ambitious, enthusiastic worker for Open America, a liberal citizen's lobby in Washington, D.C.. Karen is assisted in finding (and uncovering) corrupt politicians by Dale Busch, the cantankerous founder of Open America."

    This is not an MTM show, but its opening--I like it, too--very closely resembles The Mary Tyler Moore Show, with Karen Valentine bicycling around the Jefferson Memorial, the White House, the Arlington Memorial Bridge and other Washington sites. Plus, instead of Mary Richards in a Fran Tarkenton jersey, we get Karen Angelo in a Chris Hamburger jersey. Makes sense.

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    1. I have a whole lot to say about a show where an activist cycles (with the little flag on the cycle) from Georgetown to Capitol Hill in order to help poor people. I will limit myself to saying that in the mid-1970's, there were a lot of people who thought that the debates over Vietnam and Watergate would empower those who trusted the Federal Government to help the average American. But those people were wrong.

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    2. Similarly, "The Mary Tyler Moore" show uses the opening to encourage you to care about the protagonist and let you know that she's trying to build a new life. It's a very welcoming open. But "Karen" doesn't need your help -- she's living in Georgetown, she's got a high-powered job on the Hill, and she's riding a bicycle with a flag. (Mary Tyler Moore, like Alice, drives an American-made car.)

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    3. In both "Karen" and "The Bob Crane Show," the openings assume that the audience has a lot of empathy for the challenges faced by members of the elite who ride bicycles. In reality, the audience of the 1970's gave its heart to hard-working people in Middle America who did not ride bicycles.

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    4. The full effects of this difference between what the cultural elites want and what the masses want will not become entirely clear for a few more years.

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    5. You are so kind to weigh in with all of this in my little pretend. I enjoyed reading all of these comments.

      I root for all of people--Bob and Karen, Crane and Alice. And Mary. If I had a network, all of my shows would be set in the same town--and most in the same time frame, though there would likely be some nostalgic and futuristic shows (though set in the same town). There'd be all kinds of exciting crossovers, and that'd set up all kinds of opportunities for, say, Bob Crane's family and the Hartleys to get together for an evening of Challenge Yahtzee and better understand each other. Then everybody would be a lot happier and not be so bent out of shape.

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    6. That second sentence, from Wikipedia, should've been in quotes--sorry, Wikipedia.

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  13. I'm not finding anything on YouTube from Sears Presents Bob Hope on Campus, but, according to a display ad on Page 6-B of the Sun-Democrat, the guest stars are John Wayne, Aretha Franklin, America, Flip Wilson and Les Brown and His Band of Renown, with performances from UCLA, Howard Payne, Florida Southern, Columbia and Vassar.

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  14. At the movies, it’s Lenny at the Columbia, Escape to Witch Mountain at the Arcade, Waldo Pepper and Murder on the Orient Express at Paducah Cinemas I and II, Texas Chainsaw Massacre at the Paducah Drive In, The Towering Inferno and Lt. Robin Crusoe USN at Mayfield Twin Cinemas I and II and Truck Stop Women and Cannibal Girls at the Calvert Drive In.

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  15. "No Rig Was Too Big for Them to Handle" is the tagline for Truck Stop Women--so, lively night in Calvert City.

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  16. Harmon Killebrew homered and scored another run for the Royals, and Kansas City beat Oakland, 6-2, and take over the A.L. West lead.

    The Dodgers beat the Reds again, 7-6. The Padres now lead the N.L. West.

    After its 3-0 start, Pittsburgh has now lost two in a row, and the Cubs--with ex-A Manny Trillo excelling--now lead the N.L. East. (I'm starting to get bothered seeing all of the young talent that the A's have distributed among other teams in the last few seasons in tinkering for their three world championships. I mean, I wouldn't trade anything for those titles, but I know what's coming.)

    The Red Sox, having split their two-game series with the Yankees, lead the A.L. East.

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